Professor's novel tells tale of 1930s invasion of China

Through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl brought to life in his debut novel, Shouhua Qi tells about the horrific Japanese invasion of his hometown in China during the long winter of 1937-38.

An associate professor of English at

Western Connecticut State University
, Qi is passionate about recounting the historical event. Even though it happened 20 years before he was born, he heard stories from his father and grandfather about the atrocities of war and knew someday he would pour it out on paper.
On Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Qi will be at Barnes & Noble in Danbury to read excerpts from his first novel, "When the
Purple Mountain Burns
," published in August (Long
River Press
, $19.95). A book signing will follow. The 49-year-old English professor is currently working with an A-list director in hopes of turning the screenplay of the story into a film.
Qi, who moved to the U.S. from China in 1989, said that the invasion of Nanjing, China's capital before communism took over in 1949, resulted in the killing of more than 300,000 people.
More than 2,000 years old, Nanjing is home to many religious institutions, temples, universities, hospitals and schools. From his childhood memories, he remembers a thriving city surrounded by a beautiful topography.
"It's a beautiful city surrounded by mountains, the best known is the Purple Mountain," he said. When the Purple Mountain burns, an ancient saying goes, the city falls. "When the Japanese invaded, the mountain was ablaze . . . with bombing."
Though 12-year-old Ningning, the book's main character, is fictional, Qi said he was able to look into her soul to write an account of the atrocities of war.
"You put yourself in the shoes of the person. You feel it," Qi said. "During those days and nights (while writing the book) I was living in a different world, and reliving the tragedy with the characters I was creating, often times choked with emotions and having tears in my eyes as I typed away."
The book also includes real, historical characters to help link Ningning and her family to the actual event.

Minnie Vautrin
was an American missionary and dean of a women's college turned into a refugee center for thousands of women and young children.
Robert Wilson
was the only surgeon in the city who worked tirelessly caring for victims.
The image of the child's grandfather, which came later to Qi in his writing, was modeled after his own grandfather, an old Buddhist scholar who did a lot of Lotus posture meditating.
"A lot of times in the book, he's my own grandfather," said Qi, although his grandfather was not inside the city during the invasion. "The creation of the grandfather came to me later. The young girl, she was too young to carry the burden of history."
But she does carry large pieces of history on the novel's pages. In one part of the book, Qi has the little girl hiding in a coffin as Japanese soldiers march up the stairs outside the room looking for any Chinese. Many details of the horrific crimes committed against the Chinese people are bluntly portrayed, and the pain is more than heartfelt.
"Only fiction can deliver that kind of intensity. I feel that needed to be told - to reach more people," Qi said.
He said the book needed emotional intensity in order to tell the painful past of his hometown.
"History and non-fiction books cannot do that job," Qi said.
Qi, who uses lots of color and imagery with a nice flow, described his writing style as "sparse." He said he learned through his editor to make his writing neater and tighter.
Now working on a second novel tentatively titled "Twin-Sun River," about an American prisoner of war during the Korean conflict, and a book of short stories, Qi has taught at WestConn for six years. His wife, Xiaohong, works at the

UConn Medical Center
, and his son, Frank, graduated from
Cornell University
last summer.
Qi, who teaches graduate and undergraduate literature and creative writing at WestConn, is the author of more than 10 books, including "Bridging the Pacific: Searching for Cross-Cultural Understanding Between the United States and China." The book contains creative non-fiction essays, including recounting his coming to America to obtain his doctoral degree in English at
Illinois State University
.
In his first novel, Qi said it was important for him to convey what happened during the first week of a reign of terror in the city he once called home.
"The terror itself last six weeks," Qi said. "And for a long time it was just a footnote in the history books."

Dr. Shouhua Qi will read excepts of "When the Purple Mountain Burns," on Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at 7 Backus Ave. in Danbury. A book signing will follow.